Tag: MSNBC

GE shareholders erupt in anger over MSNBC’s leftwing bias

(UPDATE BELOW)

GE shareholders gather outside MSNBC's headquarters. Keith Olbermann cowers in fear inside.
GE shareholders gather outside MSNBC's headquarters. Keith Olbermann cowers in fear inside.

Anger erupted at GE’s annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday. “The crowd was angry with MSNBC because of its leftward tilt,” one person observed. “Some former employees said they were embarrassed by it.”

The complaints came hot and heavy. During the question-and-answer period, shareholders repeatedly asked executives about political views expressed on MSNBC and CNBC.

They were pissed about the report that GE honcho Jeff Immelt and NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker reportedly held a dinner meeting at which they told top CNBC executives and and on-air talent to take it easy on President Obama.

They were steamed that MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann didn’t challenge of lunatic Janeane Garofalo’s lunatic ramblings in an interview last week.

It went on and on. The angry questioners refused to be silenced. GE finally resorted to shutting off their microphones, which angered them even more.

“My biggest surprise was the open hostility to MSNBC,” noted one shareholder. “It was noticeable and loud. I don’t remember any of this going on last year.”

A few weeks ago, President Obama told a group of executives, “My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”

Looks like President Obama was right about the pitchforks. But this isn’t quite the way he had envisioned them being used.

Source: HollywoodReporter.com

UPDATE: AUDIO TRACK OF CROWD BOOS WHEN GE CEO’S DEFENDS MSNBC

“O’Reilly Factor” producer Jesse Watters attended Wednesday’s annual GE shareholder meeting as both a GE shareholder and producer of “The O’ReillyFactor.”

He asked asked GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt if Janeane Garofalo’s comments on MSNBC qualified as hate speech.

The other shareholders booed the CEO’s answer.

Source: FoxNation.com

Lib talker Stephanie Miller was hilarious on CNN. Unintentionally hilarious.

Stephanie Miller showed up on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” about ten days ago and hinted at a nefarious plot on the part of conservative radio station owners to bring down the “highly successful” lib talk juggernaut.

“Well, you know – I just did a panel on the Fairness Doctrine,” the unfunny Miller said. “I have to tell you, I brought ratings information. And people like me and Ed Schultz are consistently beating conservative shows in many, many markets. And yet – there is 10 percent liberal radio in this country. Ninety percent of the stations are conservative. You just cannot argue anymore it’s because liberal radio can’t compete.”

That would be impossible – and she knows it – for one very simple reason: neither Miller nor Schultz air in “many, many markets.” If the information on her website is up-to-date:

  • Miller has affiliates in just 50 markets (a dreadful total after years of flogging this dog in syndication)
  • She has affiliates in only nine of the Top 50 markets.
  • Eight of those nine have ratings below 1.0 (again, dreadful is the only appropriate word)
  • Three of her Top 10 market affiliates have zero ratings.
  • Eight of her 50 affiliates air her program only on weekends.
  • Thirteen of her 50 affiliates air only a portion of her program or air it at odd hours (or both).
  • Twenty of her 50 affiliates are in markets ranking #120 or smaller
  • Twelve of her affiliates are in markets too small to be rated.

Even worse for Miller, her syndication efforts are going full speed in reverse. She’s lost a startling 62.5% (15 of 24) of the Top 50 affiliates she once had and her problem seem to be accelerating. In the last few months she’s lost affiliates in Miami, Phoenix and Columbus and gained none.

The bottom line is pretty clear:

Stephanie Miller’s talk show is a ratings disaster. Instead of blaming “conservative” station owners, she should put the blame where it belongs. On herself.

AN ADDED NOTE: Is it our imagination or is Miller beginning to look just like Gloria Allred?

Source: NewsBusters

Lou Dobbs calls Keith Olbermann a left wing hack, and more

It’s Easter weekend, family is visiting, and we weren’t going to spend too much time on IHateTheMedia.com. But some things are just to sweet to pass up. Like CNN’s Lou Dobbs calling MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann a “left-wing hack,” “who has to spend so much time adjusting his medication he can’t figure out what he’s doing.”

No time for humor analysis and comment. It’s enough just to watch and listen.

Thanks to Newsbusters.org for the heads up.

Ratings for MSNBC’s EdShow look more like DeadShow

MSNBC may have made a boneheaded move when it put Ed Schultz on the air, but at least they were smart enough to bury him on the fringe of primetime.

The ratings on his premier show were, shall we say, disappointing. That makes the ratings on night two disastrous. And the ratings on night three were..hello…hello…is anyone out there?

By night three, the Fox show in the same time slot has 4.5 times as many viewers as Schultz. And the CNN shown had twice as many.

Fox and CNN both love the EdShow. Finally, something they can both agree on.

Network     Monday     Tuesday     Wednesday
Fox     2,125,000     1,919,000     2,202,000
CNN     1,147,000     1,010,000     807,000
EdShow/MSNBC     725,000     602,000     406,000



Source: Nielsen Media Research via MediaBistro

Uh-oh. March is Maddow’s lowest-rated month ever.

maddow_chart The good news for Rachel Maddow is that her show is up 98% in total viewers and 70% in the 24-54 age demographic compared to the invisibly low ratings of Dan Abrams, her predecessor in the time slot.

MediaBistro said, “Maddow was an instant hit and is currently the network’s second-highest rated show.”

The bad news is that you don’t have to be an expert statistician to figure out the trend of this chart. March was Maddow’s sixth month on MSNBC and also her lowest-rated. Her viewership has plunged a remarkable 40% in six months.

At the rate she’s going, Maddow’s last viewer will switch to another station on January 1, 2010. Put it on your calendar. The beer’s on us.

Source: MediaBistro.com

Olbermann uses understatement for the first time, admits “I’m the a-hole.”

Just when you were beginning to think Keith Olbermann was completely out of touch with reality, he goes and makes sense.

While interviewing new MSNBC host Ed Schultz, Olbermann pigeonholed all the other role players at the network.

“Alright,” Olbermann said, “you’ve got the conundrum all of us have as this thing gets more and more successful. The show’s got to look like a relative of all the other shows right before it and right after it. But not too much. I mean, Chris is the political inside-baseball guy. Rachel is the affable, charming policy wonk. I’m the a-hole. What are you going to be?”

We don’t really know which is more surprising: Olbermann acknowledging his assholishness or his belief (despite ratings evidence to the contrary) that MSNBC is getting “more and more successful.”

Source: Finkelblog.com

Howard Dean says, “Don’t call a sitting president a Fascist.” Keith Olbermann says, “Uhhh, not so fast.”

It’s not easy to make Keith Olbermann look more absurd than he makes himself look. But Howard Dean managed to do it without even trying. As an added bonus, he also made himself look absurd. Bingo! Two for the price of one.

Dean appeared on Olbermann’s MSNBC show the other night and was horrified – horrified, we tell you – that some people have called President Obama a Fascist. Olbermann nodded gravely and agreed in his most serious, most reporterish tones.

Thanks to some great research and brilliant editing by Olbywatch, this video intercuts those comments with numereous clips from earlier times of Olbermann calling President Bush a – you guessed it – Fascist.

Let’s go to the videotape.

Is Keith Olbermann a liar? Or paranoid? Or both?

Introducing the latest style from Keith Olbermann's new fashion line.
Introducing the latest style from Keith Olbermann's new fashion line.
Last week Keith Olbermann complained about a fake Twitter page and suggested that it was part of a nefarious plot by arranged by Fox News.

Oops. Media Bistro reports that the Olbermann Twitter page may have been run by MSNBC for “several months.” (In fact, the cable network admittedly operates a separate Olbermann Twitter site.)

“It turns out the account Olbermann may have been referring to @KeithOlbermann, which currently has 12,099 followers was set up by someone who was friendly enough to later give that account to MSNBC, which has had it for several months. But Olbermann wasn’t made aware of that not-so-minor detail, insiders tell us.”

“What’s bothering you this week,” his psychiatrist said. “Are you still having those bad dreams about Rupert Murdoch?”

Source: Media Bistro

Olbermann, Leno admit the awful, embarrassing truth

Did you catch habitual liar Keith Olbermann on the Tonight Show the other night? We didn’t think so.

The only thing interesting about it – other than Jay Leno’s continued race to the left – was the moment when Keith and Jay confessed to the fact that they are embarrassed by the their employers.

It went like this:

LENO: Can I ask you a dumb question? It’s called American Insurance Group? Is that the name?
OLB: I believe that’s it, yes.
LENO: Is this even an American company? Or is this one of these phony things where you’re chopping down trees and you call yourself The Evergreen Preservation Society?
OLB: It’s a brand name.
LENO: Is it even American at all?
OLB: It probably was at some point. But you know, when you go to initials, as you know, its usually a sign something’s changed. Just going by your initials you really don’t want to be identified as the company anymore.

What a bonehead. Would someone please point out to Olbermann that his employer is one of those companies that goes by initials instead of its full name.

And then would someone please point out to these two financial geniuses that it’s actually the American International Group, not the American Insurance Group.

Source: NBC (formerly the National Broadcasting Company)

Glenn Beck ratings skyrocket, Olbermann up, Maddow down, has anyone seen CNN?

Glenn Beck ratings at Fox News is the big story in cable news this week. He has leapfrogged Sean Hannity to #2. What was CNN thinking when the let this guy get away?

Note: here’s a more current article on the ratings: O’Reilly-Hannity-Beck go 1-2-3 in cable news ratings again, Fox destroys competition again

The biggest news in cable news this week is the remarkable rise of Glenn Beck at Fox.

Top 10 cable TV shows for 03/13/09His Friday night special drew huge numbers and leapfrogged his show above long-time #2 Sean Hannity. What was CNN thinking when the let this guy get away?

As for the rest of the cable news pack, some were up a little, some were down a little. And Larry King continues to be CNN’s last man standing.

The accompanying chart looks at the top 10 cable TV news shows for March 13, 2009.

Source: MediaBistro, Nielsen Media Research

Comedian Bernie Mac accused of stealing $50 billion

Telling the difference between Bernie Mac and Bernie Madoff seems pretty simple to us.

One lost his life, the other lost $50 billion. One never stole more than a punch line, but the other stole a fortune from widows and orphans. One was black, the other is white.

Nevertheless, an MSBNC anchor had a bit of trouble telling one from the other while reporting that prosecutors will be seeking $170 Billion from Madoff. The older, whiter, more crooked of the two is expected to plead guilty to 11 criminal counts and could spend up to 150 years in the slammer. If he serves his full term, he will be 220 years old upon release.

We miss you, Bernie. And we mean Mac, not Madoff.

Showbiz bible distorts ratings to promote MSNBC’s Maddow

Nothing better than quoting the bible on a Sunday morning.

“Maddow’s unique style spikes ratings. Smarts, smile fuel MSNBC host’s rapid rise.” That’s how Variety, long known as the show business bible, headlines its story on MSNBC’s leftwing loon Rachel Maddow.

“After struggling for years to fill the prime 9 p.m. slot — with personalities as disparate as Rita Cosby to Dan Abrams — the network has landed a solid performer in Maddow,” the story says. “Her ratings are a vast improvement over what has been there recently, and she has helped erase doubts the network could carry over sizable audiences from the record heights of the campaign season.”

Maddow premiered with ratings that topped even those of MSNBC “star” Keith Olbermann. And the Variety piece leaves the impression they’ve stayed at that lofty level. In reality, her ratings trajectory looks more like Greg Louganis jackknifing off the high board. There’s been a steady decline and Maddow’s show has now dropped out of the nightly top ten.

As you can see in this chart, Maddow’s audience has dropped significantly this year, while the numbers for direct competitor Sean Hannity have increased significantly.
rachel_maddow_vs_sean_hannity

NOTE: Numbers are in hundred thousands and measure the highly coveted 25-54 demographic. In total audience, the disparity between Hannity and Maddow is even more dramatic.

Let’s compare this to a horserace. Maddow broke fast out of the gate. She led for the first three quarters of the race, but faded at the end and lost the race by 20 lengths.

Not that we would compare Rachel Maddow to a broken down old nag. Never. That would be tacky and tasteless and totally unlike us.

Source: Variety

MSNBC screws up, reacts to Bobby Jindal by saying, “Oh God”

Someone on MSNBC disparagingly muttered “Oh, God” on the air last night as Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana approached the camera to give the Republican response to President Obama’s speech. And we don’t think it was because they worship the ground Jindal walks on.

We’ve never been mistaken for Aristotle, but logic tells us Chris Matthews is probably the culprit, since the loquacious host has now developed the remarkable ability to analyze a speech even before it is given.

At the beginning the evening, before Obama had uttered a word, Matthews declared that his speech was “Churchillian.” So it seems only logical that he would bookend the night by panning Jindal’s response in advance.

What caused the outburst? Some observers think the “Oh, God” comment may have slipped out during an unguarded moment of ecstasy while the obviously-smitten Matthews was imagining his man love for the president.

Either that or Keith Olbermann said it when he saw the object of his affection in a mirror.

SOURCE: Fox News

MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell run over by steamroller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAytq2Dh_SwOuch. Norah O’Donnell never saw it coming. It’s been hours now and she’s probably still woozy after the figurative beating she took from documentary maker John Ziegler.

Ziegler’s out promoting “Media Malpractice,” his new documentary, by making the rounds of all the news and talk shows. Today was MSNBC’s turn.

Based on the smug smile on O’Donnell’s face when the interview started, she though Ziegler was going to be easy pickings. She was wrong.

The former talk show host immediately went on the attack. He repeatedly and pointedly made her look like the empty-headed news babe she is (and by the way, politics aside, Norah O’Donnell is a babe).

Ziegler clearly enjoyed every moment of this interview. Norah, not so much.

For the Media Malpractice documentary, go here.

MSNBC to bolster its line-up with another unknown, unsuccessful talk show host

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0RCJdjUfO4Add a dollop of dementia. A pinch of paranoia. A smidgeon of socialism. Mix it all together into an ideological olio and half-bake at 450 degrees. Voila! You have the next MSNBC primetime host.

Ever since news got out that MSNBC wants to create a new show for its 7:00 p.m. time slot, fans of libtalk radio have been flooding the lefty cable network with unsolicited endorsements of various libtalk hosts

Two fan-based Facebook groups have been founded to promote Cenk Uygur of “The Young Turks” internet radio show and Sam Seder of Air America.

We say either of these guys is perfect for MSNBC. No one’s ever heard of them. No one’s ever listened to them. And no one will ever watch them.

The trifecta!

King beats Olbermann, Fox beats everyone

Highlights of this week’s cable news ratings. Fox continues its run of dominant ratings thanks to growing dissatisfaction with the Keystone Kops administration in Washington, DC. Larry King topped Keith Olbermaniac. Rachel Maddow climbed back into the top ten dispite rather lackluster numbers.

Here’s a look at the top ten cable TV shows for February 11, 2009:

Network Program Total Audience
Fox News O’Reilly 3,494,000
Fox News Hannity 2,658,000
Fox News Beck 2,370,000
Fox News Baier 2,305,000
Fox News Shep Smith 2,190,000
Fox News Greta 1,847,000
CNN King 1,761,000
MSNBC Olbermann 1,485,000
CNN Cooper 1,286,000
CNN Blitzer 1,246,000
MSNBC Maddow 1,240,000

UPDATE: Math was never our strong suit. Looks like Maddow didn’t climb into the top ten after all. Her show was actually Number 11.

Matthews: I love to think with him

Not since Chris Mathews told us of the tingling sensation he gets up his leg when he hears Obama speak, has he shown off his Obama mancrush with such affection and enchantment as he did last night. If only he’d held back until this Saturday, Valentines Day, it would have been perfect.

During a special edition of Countdown, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews poured his heart out to Barack. He said that he was “very impressed with [Obama’s] amazing ability,” and told us that his guy was “at his best intellectually.” But, he really showed his affection with this comment: “What a mind he has, and I love his ability to do it on television. I love to think with him.”

Making sure not to leave out anyone else in his circle of friends, he added, “I think our breed looked pretty good tonight. I think the press looked very good tonight. I think they asked great questions. I loved, I would be very impressed with the press tonight.”

Love isn’t just in the air, it’s on the air.

Translating Rachel Maddow into English

rachel_maddow_the_advocateAs a public service, we occasionally feel obligated to translate some of the crap found in the media. In this case, we find ourselves translating a Rachel Maddow interview in the NY Daily News.

“During the election last year, Maddow established herself as one of the big three at MSNBC, which had its best run ever, with her show following Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann.” (Translation: Her initial ratings were through the roof, but they are sinking faster than the Titanic.)

“But she was a charter host on Air America in March 2004, so she and the radio network have now figured out a way to give her an ongoing presence there.” (Translation: Maddow dumped Air America because low-rated television hosts make a lot more money than low-rated radio hosts.)

“She also notes that she and her MSNBC colleagues ‘don’t exactly march in lockstep. Sometimes when we’re doing a panel, we have no agreement at all.'” (Translation: Some of them are Stalinists while others are Maoists.)

We feel like one of those guys at the UN with the earphones and microphone who instantaneously translate speeches from Urdu to Tagalog. Except that translating Liberal is a lot tougher.

Rachel Maddow thinks snow in Dubai caused by global warming

The skier siting next to Rachel Maddow on the ski lift in the Duabi snow park reports she told him, "See, see! Global warming even works indoors."
The skier siting next to Rachel Maddow on the ski lift in the Duabi snow park reports she told him, "See, global warming even effects the indoors."

Here at I Hate The Media, we’re pretty well known for our sensitivity. So we want to make sure we say this delicately, so as not to offend.

Aw, the hell with it.

Rachel Maddow is out of her mind. It snowed in Dubai this week and the queen of MSNBC blamed it on global warming.

“Some big global warming news today. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named a special envoy today for climate change…And if that’s not big enough news on climate change, how about this. It snowed in Dubai. Yeah, in the United Arab Emirates. And it’s not the fake, fluffy stuff they make for an indoor ski resort neither. These were big, chunky snowflakes falling on a mountain in the United Arab Emirates for only the second time in recorded history. The occurrence this weekend was so rare that local residents say they do not have a word for snow in their local dialect.”

Our correspondent in Abu Dhabi, which is right next door to Dubai, reports that local residents do have words for “Nuttier than a fruitcake.”

Olbermaniac wanted

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL3rc6wvNqE“You must love pina coladas, walking on the beach in the rain and frothing at the mouth.”

OK, so maybe that’s not exactly what MSNBC president Phil Griffin said, but it’s probably what he was thinking.

MSNBC is searching for a mad dog personality to fill the open 10 p.m. time slot, which is currently occupied by a replay of Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” program.

In fact, Griffin believes a new 10 p.m. program is a top priority. He said that the channel needed a third original show – in addition to Rachel Maddow’s and Olbermann’s — in its primetime lineup.

“We can’t let this momentum stop,” he said.

“Where the hell can I find another lunatic who looks good in a suit,” he thought.

Maddow channels Fox News Channel

photo by Paul Schultz
photo by Paul Schultz

Do not compare MSNBC to Fox News when MSNBC newbie Rachel Maddow is in the room. She rejects “…the idea that there’s any equivalency between us and Fox News….”

“Fox is a political experiment,” she told a roomful of TV critics. “Imagine them having somebody as liberal as Joe Scarborough is conservative doing their whole morning? It doesn’t make sense.”

Then Maddow revealed to reporters reporters she doesn’t own a TV and has never seen a show on Fox at any time ever.

She concluded by saying she hates monkey brains although she’s never eaten one, and loves men although she’s never had one.

I HATE THE MEDIA ™
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